05 

.D3I 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  AMERICA, 

THE    FIRST   INHABITANTS 


OF 


CENTRAL  AMERICA, 


AND    THE 


DISCOVERY  OF  NEW- ENGLAND, 

BY  THE  NORTHMEN, 

liPIVEHUNDEED  YEAES  BEFORE  COLUMBUS, 

WITH    IMPORTANT   ADDITIONS. 


A  LECTURE, 


DELIVERED    IN    NEW    YORK,     WASHINGTON,    BOSTON    AND    OTHER 

CITIES  J  ALSO,  IN  SOME   OF   THE   FIRST  LITERARY 

INSTITUTIONS     OF    THE    UNION, 

BY   A.    DAVIS, 

^-« 

Corresponding  Member  of  the  JV*.  Y.  Historical  Society,  and  formerly  Chaplain 
of  the  Senate,  <$•<;.,  New  York. 


SIXTEENTH  EDITION,  FROM  THE  TWELFTH  BOSTON  EDITION. 


BUFFALO,  N.  Y.: 

CLAPP   &   M'CREDIE'S  POWER   PRESS. 
1846. 


t   ! 

r 


TO  THE  PUBLIC. 


The  generous  patronage  received  for  the  delivery  of  the  following  lecture  I*ads  tc 
its  publication.  Though  faint  the  ray  of  knowledge  it  may  impart,  yet  I  trust  it  will 
be  seen  and  its  benefits  rewarded,  while  exhibited  in  a  different  medium. 

The  circulation  of  fifteen  editions  shows  that  this  hope  of  success-  has  not  been 
disappointed. 

Together  with  original  matter,  the  lecture  is  a  compilation  from  various  important 
works.  Facts  have  been  obtained  from  the  first  libraries  in  Boston,  Worcester,  Phila 
delphia,  Washington  and  Georgetown. 

The  continued  encouragement  received  from  distinguished  sources  like  the  following, 
encourages  me  in  issuing  another  edition. 

From  the  Ornithologist. 

BUFFALO,  N.  Y.,  August  1,  1844. 

I  have  read  the  "Antiquities  of  Central  America,  iind  the  Discovery  of  New  England 
by  the  Northmen  five  hundred  years  before  Columbus,"  by  A.  Davis,  Esq.  with  extreme 
pleasure  and  satisfaction  ;  and  I  feel  much  indebted  to  that  learned  gentleman  for  all 
that  he  has  said  on  this  most  interesting  subject,  in  his  memorable  lecture  above 
mentioned,  and  I  trust  that  it  will  be  as  highly  appreciated  by  all  who  may  peruse  it 
as  by  myself. 

I  take  this  opportunity  to  offer  to  Mr.  Davis  my  sincere  thanks  for  his  goodness  to  me 
and  have  great  pleasure  in  subscribing  myself  his  friend  and  respectful  humble  servant, 

JOHN  J.  AUDUBON. 
To  A.  DAVIS,  formerly  Chaplain  of  the  Senate,  &c.,  N.  Y. 

From  J.  M'Caul,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 

KING'S  COLLEGE,  TORONTO,  May  30,  1845. 

My  Dear  Sir, — I  have  read  with  great  interest  your  brief  condensation  of  the  proofs 
which  may  be  advanced  of  the  discovery  of  America  before  the  voyages  of  Columbus, 
and  the  evidence  afforded  by  the  ruins,  recently  discovered  in  the  Southern  part  of  this 
continent,  of  the  existence  of  a  powerful  and  civilized  nation  previous  to  the  arrival  of 
the  Spaniards. 

The  subject  is  one  not  merely  calculated  to  excite  the  attention  and  reward  the 
researches  of  antiquarians,  but  is  also  capable  (as  per  testimonials  fully  demonstrated) 
of  being  rendered  highly  attractive  in  a  popular  lecture. 

Believe  me,  yours  faithfully, 
REV.  A.  DAVIS.  JOHN  M'CAUL. 

From  the  Hon.  G.  Furman,  Brooklin,  N.  Y. 

"  My  Dear  Sir  , — You  will  please  accept  my  thanks  for  a  copy  of  your  interesting 
lecture  on  American  History  anterior  to  Columbus,  which  has  been  to  mo  in  its  perusal 
a  source  of  high  gratification.  It  is  now  several  years  since  my  attention  was  first 
called  to  your  valuable  labors  in  this  important  branch  of  American  history,  and  am 
pleased,  from  this  fourteenth  edition,  that  they  are  becoming  properly  appreciated  by 
the  reading  world  ;  and  permit  me  to  say,  it  is  only  necessary  for  any  person  having 
the  least  taste  for  such  inquiries,  to  cast  their  eyes  over  your  work  to  become  satisfied 
the  public  are  under  great  obligations  to  you  for  the  labor,  care  and  judgment  which 
you  have  manifested  in  treating  the  subject,  at  the  same  time  so  highly  interesting,  so 
intricate  in  its  facts  and  difficult  in  their  attainment." 


1-3  G 

Bancroft  Library 


BANCROFT 

ANTIQUITIES  OF  AMERICA, 


While  the  beauties  of  the  visible  creation  fade  on  the  eye,  while 
nature  reposes  under  the  mantle  of  night,  it  is  pleasant  to  leave 
the  haunts  of  business,  or  the  domestic  scenes,  and  come  up  to  the 
lecture  room  to  survey  the  dark  regions  of  the  past,  under  the 
mild  light  of  history, 

If  the  age  of  Leo  X.  was  characterized  by  great  attention  to 
the  fine  arts,  so  the  present  is  remarkable,  not  only  for  its  devotion 
to  the  embellishments  of  life,  but  for  progress  in  historical  and 
antiquarian  researches.  The  most  gifted  minds  of  either  sex  are 
interested  in  these  studies.  The  crowned  heads  of  Europe,  instead 
of  imbruing  their  hands  in  the  blood  of  their  fellows,  are  spending 
mints  of  money  in  unfolding  the  early  history  of  the  world.  That 
spirit  of  enquiry  which  awoke,  perhaps,  in  the  East,  folds  not  its 
wings  in  apathy  in  crossing  the  Atlantic;  for  here  its  developments 
astonish  both  hemispheres.  Knowledge  is  spreading  over  the  earth 
not  like  the  morning  beams,  which  gild  only  the  mountain  tops, 
but  like  the  noon-tide  rays,  that  penetrate  the  deep  valleys !  * 

The  active  mind  of  man  instinctively  surveys  the  dark  regions 
of  the  past,  and  would  gladly  break  the  unfathomable  silence  of 
the  nations  of  the  dead,  and  raise  the  veil  where  their  beauty  and 
glory  have  slept  for  ages.  This  strong  desire  to  learn  something 
of  those  who  Jived  when  time  was  young,  leads  the  antiquary,  too 
often,  to  adopt  groundless  theories.  But  if  there  are  counterfeit 
antiquities,  there  are  those  also  that  are  genuine. 

It  will  be  recollected  that  the  avaricious  Spaniards  discovered 
and  conquered  Mexico  on  the  North,  and  Peru  and  Chili  on  the 
South  of  Central  America,  in  the  first  place.  But  at  length  the 
solitude  of  the  latter  was  broken;  and  there  was  discovered  the 
"  El  Dorado,"  about  which  the  whole  Spanish  nation  had  so  long 
been  dreaming. 

*The  following  just  tribute  of  praise  was  given  by  Mr.  Davis,  in  his  lecture,  University  Chapel, 
N.  Y..  to  the  Historical  Society,  in  speaking  of  the  progress  of  antiquarian  research: 

"  And  are  there  not  more  stars  in  the  Northern  than  in  the  Southern  hemisphere?  So  there  are  more 
constellations  of  intellectual  light  in  the  former  than  in  the  latter.  And  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  is 
the  Historical  Society  of  New  York.  The  light  beams  afar,  and  by  its  influence  prominent  men  from 
foreign  countries  are  being  enrolled  among  the  names  of  its  distinguished  members." 


4  A    LECTURE    ON    THE 

The  appearance  of  these  ruins  shows  that  a  nation  once  existed 
there,  highly  skilled  in  the  mechanic  arts,  and  in  a  state  of  civili 
zation  far  beyond  anything  that  we  have  been  led  to  believe  of  the 
aborigines,  previous  to  the  time  of  Columbus. 

The  antiquities  of  America  may  be  divided  into  three  classes, 
left  in  succession  by  nations  more  or  less  enlightened;  as  the  ruins 
of  Central  America,  of  Mexico  and  Peru,  and  of  regions  farther 
North. 

The  first  knowledge  of  the  ruins,  South,  was  derived  from 
accounts  given  by  straggling  hunters. 

In  1787,  the  Spanish  government  sent  out  Captain  Del  Rio  to 
survey  the  ruins. 

Waldcck,  in  1822,  published  in  London  an  account  of  Rio's 
discoveries. 

Capt.  Dupaix  was  sent  on  a  mission  to  Central  America  in  1805. 
He  supposes  the  ruins  were  left  before  the  deluge.  Lord  Kings- 
boro"  gave  an  account  of  Dupaix's  researches.  His  work  I  saw 
in  the  library  of  a  distinguished  historian,  Wm.  H.  Prescott,  Esq., 
Boston.  This  splendid  work,  at  $400  a  volume,  cost  the  author 
his  fortune. 

Waldeck  visited  Central  America  in  1832,  and  spent  four  years 
in  that  region.  He  took  many  drawings  of  the  ruins,  but  on  his 
return  they  were  seized  by  the  perfidious  Mexicans. 

On  losing  the  fruits  of  his  long  toil,  he  must  have  felt  like  Antony 
on  being  betrayed  by  Cleopatra: 

"All  is  lost! 

This  foul  Egyptian  hath  betrayed  me  j 
My  fleet  luith  yieltled  to  the  foe  ; 
Fortune  and  Antony  part  here;  even  here 
Do  we  shake  hands," 

The  late  Governor  Galindo,  of  Peten,  in  Central  America,  has 
corresponded  with  the  late  Lieut.  Governor  Winthrop,  Boston, 
relative  to  the  antiquities  of  that  region.  For  the  great  discoveries 
made,  he  has  received  a  premium  from  one  of  the  literary  societies 
of  Europe. 

He,  in  speaking  of  one  of  the  cities  in  the  vicinity  of  Palenque, 
says  that  a  gigantic  Massica,  or  bread-fruit  tree,  grows  on  one 
of  the  altars,  encircling  it  with  its  powerful  roots.  The  most 
remarkable  trees  growing  over  the  ruins,  are  the  mahogany,  cedar, 
chocolate,  &c.  One  of  the  squares  of  the  city  is  surrounded  with 
six  handsome  obelisks,  the  highest  of  which  is  more  than  six  yards 
high.  They  all  bear,  in  basso  relievo,  gigantic  figures.  One  temple 
has  eighty  such  figures. 

The  temple  of  Copan  was  653  feet  by  524  feet  in  dimensions. 
It  must  have  been  as  large  as  St.  Peter's  Church  in  Rome.  Let 
us  gaze  on  this  mighty  structure  for  instruction.  It  stands  as  a 
landmark  on  the  broad  field  of  time, — it  reminds  us  of  the  remote 


DISCOVERY    OF    AMERICA. 


origin  of  a  great  empire.  Centuries  must  have  rolled  away,  dynas 
ties  must  have  succeeded  each  other,  before  orders  of  architecture 
were  introduced;  and  a  long  time  must  have  elapsed  before  an 
empire  would  become  so  luxurious  as  to  erect  the  stupendous 
temple  of  Copan. 

Among  the  vast  pile  of  ruins,  is  found  an  architrave  of  black 
granite,  finely  cut.  Six  granite  columns  are  seen,  each  of  a  single 
piece,  seventeen  feet  high,  and  three  feet  in  diameter. 

The  Mayon  architecture  in  Yucatan  is  said  to  be  superior  to 
that  of  Palenque.  It  is  wrought  in  stone,  and  finished  with  great 
elegance 

Gen.  Santa  Anna  says,  that  the  antiquities  of  Central  America 
are  worthy  of  being  placed  in  parallel  with  the  pyramids  of  Egypt. 

Palenque,  which  lies  240  miles  from  Tobasco,  lat.  17°  N..  is 
among  the  most  remarkable  cities  of  the  South.  Palenque  is  a 
Castilian  word  and  means  "  lists  for  fighting." 

This  city  has  emphatically  been  called  the  Thebes  of  America, 
In  surveying  its  ruins,  the  traveler  is  led  to  believe  that  it  was 
founded  at  as  early  a  period  as  the  renowned  cities  of  Egypt. 

How  immense  the  city  !  It  is  supposed  to  have  been  sixty  miles 
in  circumference,  and  that  it  contained  a  population  of  nearly  three 
millions 

Palenque,  lying  about  one  thousand  miles  from  Mexico,  and 
being  elevated  five  thousand  feet  above  the  ocean,  enjoyed  a  climate 
almost  unequalled  for  its  pleasantness.  The  natural  beauty  of  the 
scenery  was  unrivalled,  the  soil  rich  and  fertile  beyond  any  other 
portion  of  the  globe. 

One  of  the  principal  structures  revealed  to  the  eye  of  the 
antiquarian,  is  the  Teoculi,  or  temple.  Its  style  of  architecture 
resembles  the  Gothic.  It  is  rude,  massive  and  durable.  Though 
resembling  the  Egyptian  edifices,  also,  yet  this  and  the  other  build 
ings  are  peculiar,  and  are  different  from  all  others  hitherto  known*. 

The  entrance  to  this  temple  is  on  the  East  side,  by  a  portico 
more  than  one  hundred  feet  in  length  and  nine  broad.  The 
rectangular  pillars  of  the  portico  have  their  architraves  adorned 
with  stucco  work  of  shields  and  other  devices.  The  temple  stands 
on  an  elevation  of  sixty  feet.  Among  the  ruins,  different  objects 
of  worship  have  been  found;  and  in  particular,  an  idol  of  pure  gold 
about  six  inches  long.  Amid  this  wilderness  of  ruins,  are  now  to 
be  seen  fourteen  large  stone  buildings,  with  many  of  their  apart 
ments  in  good  condition. 

The  antiquity  of  this  city  is  manifest  not  only  from  its  nameless 
hieroglyphics  and  other  objects,  but  from  the  age  of  some  of  the 
trees  growing  over  buildings  where  once  the  hum  of  industry  and 
the  voice  of  merriment  were  heard.  The  concentric  circles  of 
some  of  these  trees  were  counted,  which  showed  that  they  were 
more  than  900  years  of  age.  Mr.  Brown,  who  lives  in  the  vicinity 


C  A    LECTURE    ON    THE 

of  Palenque,  has  a  table,  the  entire  leaf  of  which  was  made  from 
a  tree,  growing  over  these  ruins. 

Similar  beautiful  and  majestic  ruins  extend  1000  miles.  Hum- 
boldt  visited  a  splendid  building,  800  miles  from  Mexico,  that  forty 
years  since  was  seven  stories  high.  The  Spaniards  have  demolish 
ed  it  mostly  to  get  materials  for  building  dwellings  and  sugar-houses. 
Have  not  the  Vandals  of  the  New  World  made  desolation  more 
desolate  1 

Mr.  Stephens'  new  work  on  "  Central  America/'  confirms  the 
statements  of  other  travelers,  while  it  hightens  our  wonder  by  the 
graphic  description  of  the  ruins  of  the  desolated  cities,  especially 
of  those  found  in  Copan  and  Palenque.  There,  he  says,  "architec 
ture,  sculpture,  painting,  and  all  the  arts  that  embellish  life,  had 
flourished  in  an  overgrown  forest," 

Among  the  specimens  of  the  arts,  he  found  massive  obelisks, 
bearing  on  their  sides  sculptured  images,  and  medallion  tablets — . 
large  altars,  ornamented  with  hieroglyphics  giving  a  record  of 
those  who  reared  them  —  spendid  temples,  adorned  with  human 
figures  executed  in  stucco  and  bass  relief — walls  built  of  hewn 
stone.  The  specimens  of  sculpture  equalled  any  thing  he  saw  in 
Egypt 

In  his  second  work  he  says,  "These  ruins  are  skeletons  rising 
from  their  graves,  wrapt  in  their  shrouds,  claiming  no  affinity  with 
the  works  of  any  known  people."  Long  will  these  works  of  art 
Stand  alone  in  majesty  and  beauty, 

"  A-ad  gorgeous  as  the  sun  at  midsummer." 

The  Chavalier  Frederichal,  attache  of  the  Austrian  legation, 
lately  spent  nine  months  at  the  South.  He  found,  in  a  place  hith 
erto  untrod  by  modera  travelers,  a  majestic  group  of  pillars.  There 
were  ten  rows,  and  in  each  row  there  were  forty-eight  columns. 
With  his  Daguerreotype  apparatus  he  took  a  great  number  of 
excellent  impressions.  From  these,  when  magnified,  he  has  made 
drawings,  which  show  the  original,  by  their  richness,  elegance  and 
finish,  to  be  the  work  of  a  highly  cultivated  people. 

It  is  natural  that  we  should  linger  around  these  inanimate  objects. 
They  remind  us  of  splendid  cities  that,  like  Troy,  once  "  were." 
But,  above  all,  they  teH  us  of  the  illustrious  of  other  days.  What 
are  ruins  to  us,  but  as  they  remind  us  of  the  enterprise  and  wisdom 
of  those  who  reared  them.  What  were  Carthage  without  the 
recollection  of  the  ill-fated  Dido,  or  the  daring  deeds  of  Hannibal  ? 
And  what  will  Mount  Vernon  be  centuries  hence,  to  our  posterity, 
but  as  it  will  remind  them  of  the  valor,  patriotism  and  virtues  of 
the  Father  of  our  Republic  1 

The  monumental  history  of  Central  America  tells  us  that  this  is 
not  a  New  World.  And  we  awake  with  astonishment  that  there 
was  once  the  seat  of  a  great  empire,  before  David  reigned  over 


DISCOVERY    OP    AMERICA. 


the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel,  or  Octavius  waved  his  sceptre  over  the 
civilized  world 

But  alas !  the  foundation  of  cities  as  magnificent  as  those  that 
adorned  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  have  vanished  like  the  generations 
before  the  flood. 

"Every  house  is  buildedjby  some  man,"  but  who  erected  the 
splendid  temples  of  Palenque,  none  can  tell,  save  "  He  who  made 
all  things."  Unnumbered  centuries  have  passed  away  since  the 
noon-day  of  Palencian  glory.  There  the  wing  of  endless  night- 
broods  ovef  all  that  was  once  beautiful  and  grand  — 

"  Where  senates  once  the  weal  of  nations  planned 
Hisseth  the  gliding  snake,  through  the  hoary  weeds 
1  hat  clasp  the  mouldering  columns," 

1  have  seen  an  original  representation  in  stucco  of  the  following 
Palencian  head,  possibly  a  representation  of  their  gods,  in  the 
possession  of  the  late  Professor  Dod,  Princeton  College.  Such 
are  found  on  the  palace  walls : 


Shade  of  Spurz- 
heim,  tell,  if  thou 
canst,  what  quali 
ties  such  a  formed 
head  as  this  im 
plies  ! 


This  helmet  is 
said  to  resemble 
those  described 
by  Homer. 


Oh !  that  some  mighty  genius,  like  that  of  Belzoni,  would  arise 
and  remove  from'Uhis  city  of  the  world  called  new,  the  veil  that 
conceals1  its  origin, 

It  is  supposed  by  Stephens  and  Norman  that  the  hieroglyphics  of 
the  South  will,  like  those  of  Egypt,  at  length  be  developed.  In 
anticipation  of  those  developments,  well  may  we  exclaim,  "  visions 


A  LECTURE  ON  THE 

of  glory  spare  our  aching  sight."  Deep  shades  rest  on  the  anti 
quities  of  America,  yet  a  few  feeble  rays  of  light  enliven  the  gloom. 

It  is  supposed  that  this  city  was  destroyed  by  some  internal 
convulsion,  or,  like  those  of  the  South  of  Europe,  was  overwhelm 
ed  by  the  barbarians  of  the  North. 

Possibly  famine  or  pestilence  might  have  desolated  that  fair 
region. 

It  is  not  singular  that  it  should  have  been  concealed  from  view 
for  ages  when  we  recollect  that  cities  of  the  eastern  continent 
have,  in  like  manner  remained  in  oblivion  till  of  late.  We  allude  to 
the  ruins  of  Pa3stum,  in  Campania,  of  Italy,  and  those  of  Petra  of 
Idumea,  in  Asia.  A  new  forest  hid  for  centuries — the  former  from 
the  degenerate  sons  of  Rome,  while  the  splendid  structures  of 
Petra  were  known  only  to  Bedouins  for  over  a  thousand  years. 
Who  does  not  delight  to  read  about  the  roses  of  Paestum'?  Yet 
they  still  unfold  their  inimitable  petals  .amid  the  ruins  of  palaces, 
and  beside  the  dilapidated  temples. 

Do  we  admire  the  boundless  forests,  the  lofty  mountains,  and 
the  majestic  rivers  of  our  hemisphere'!  The  vast  wilderness  of 
ruins,  once  enlivened  by  intelligent  beings,  should  demand  a  higher 
claim  to  our  admiration. 

The  antiquities  of  America  stretch  from  the  great  lakes  of  the 
North  and  West,  to  the  southern  parts  of  Peru  on  the  South;  from 
the  Allegany  mountains  on  the  East,  to  the  Rocky  mountains  on 
on  the  West;  and  even  from  the  Pacific  to  the  Atlantic  ocean. 


The  Mexicans  hold  the  next  place  in  the  scale  of  civilization  to 
the  Central  Americans. 

The  Toltecs  probably  came  into  Anahauc,  or  the  vale  of  Mexico, 
at  the  close  of  the  seventh  century.  They  flourished  four  centu 
ries,  and  suddenly  disappeared.  They  were  an  enlightened  and 
amiable  people.  Though  pagans,  they  did  not,  like  the  Aztecs, 
who  took  possession  of  the  country  in  1325,  offer  up  human 
sacrifices. 

Although  the  Aztecs,  .or  Mexicans,  excelled  in  astronomy, 
architecture,  the  fine  arts,  agriculture,  legislation,  jurisprudence, 
and  the  display  of  many  of  those  social  virtues  that  dignify  hu 
manity,  yet  their  theology  cast  a  dark  shade  over  all  the  attractions 
their  history  otherwise  displays. 

They  believe  in  one  Supreme  God,  in  thirteen  subordinate  deities, 
and  over  two  hundred  inferior  ones.  The  god  who  received  the 
most  devotion  was  Mars,  their  god  of  war.  On  his  altar  human 
victims  bled.  To  this  Moloch  of  the  West  twenty  thousand  at 
least  were  offered  annually!  Such  is  man  where  he  sees  not  the 
attributes  of  God  in  the  "  things  that  are  made."  Yes,  all  nature 


DISCOVERY    OF    AMERICA.  9 

is  but  the  reflection  of  the  true  God.  The  modest  violet,  fresh 
from  the  sleep  of  winter,  tells  him  there  is  a  God,  and  that  He  is 
great  and  good.  [See  Rom.  1 ,  20.]  Nought  but  the  bright  beams 
of  the  "Sun  of  Righteousness"  can  dissipate  the  darkness  with 
which  man  has  enshrouded  his  moral  nature. 

Remarkable  was  the  progress  of  the  Mexicans  in  the  science  of 
astronomy  Their  year  was  divided  into  eighteen  months  of  twen 
ty  days  each;  and  five  unlucky  days.  As  the  year  is  composed  of 
nearly  six  hours  more  than  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days, 
there  still  remained  an  excess,  which  they  provided  for  by  interca 
lation.  At  the  expiration  of  fifty-two  years,  the  end  of  a  cycle, 
they  interposed  twelve  and  a*  half  days,  the  number  which  had 
fallen  in  arrear.  Time  was  marked  on  their  calendar  stones  with 
as  much  accuracy  as  is  evinced  by  the  modern  improvements  of 
astronomy,  into  two  minutes  and  nine  seconds  in  the  year.  I  have 
seen  in  the  museum  of  Mexican  antiquities  belonging  to  the  Philo 
sophical  Society,  Philadelphia,  a  beautiful  representation  of  a  large 
calendar  stone  to  be  seen  in  the  city  of  Mexico. 

If  the  Carthagenians  excelled  in  navigation,  the  Mexicans  were 
pre-eminent  in  sublime  pursuit.  Nature  impresses  on  the  multitude 
of  minds  a  various  bias.  To  the  Mexicans 


" she  taught  the  fabric  of  the  spheres  5 

The  changeful  moon,  the  circuit  of  the  stars, 
The  golden  zones  of  Heaven." 

How  magnificent  must  have  been  that  temple  at  Mexico,  at 
whose  altars  five  thousand  priests  officiated  !  But  the  city  of 
Tezcuco,  on  the  opposite  shore  of  the  lake,  was  still  the  seat  of  a 
higher  advance  in  civilization  than  was  displayed  in  Mexico  It  was 
the  capital  of  a  splendid  kingdom  of  that  name.  It  was  the  Athens 
of  the  Western  World.  The  king  erected  a  magnificent  pile  of 
buildings.  It  extended  from  east  to  west  1234  yards,  and  from 
north  to  south  978.  Innumerable  were  the  attractions  that  met 
the  eye  on  wandering  through  the  courts  of  this  majestic  structure. 

As  walls  incrusted  with  alabasters  and  richly  tinted  stucco, 
tapestries  of  variegated  feather  work,  gardens  with  baths,  and 
sparkling  fountains  overshadowed  by  groves  of  Cyprus  and  cedar. 
There  nature  seemed  ever  dressed  in  her  bridal  robes;  there  light 
and  shade  combined  to  perfect  the  landscape. 

While  America  excels  the  eastern  continent  in  the  magnitude  of 
its  rivers  and  mountains,  it  can  present  also  the  largest  pyramid  on 
the  globe,— that  of  Cholula,  six  miles  from  Puebla,  Mexico.  It 
covers  44  acres.  It  is  180  feet  high.  Its  top  includes  one  acre. 
On  this  lofty  eminence,  in  days  of  yore,  stood  an  altar  where  human 
victims  were  immolated  to  appease  the  wrath  of  the  angry  deity, 
whose  image  stood  near.  And,  strange  to  tell,  their  bodies  were 
afterwards  devoured  as  a  religious  rite ! 


10  A  LECTURE  ON  THE 

Ah,  could  those  "morning  stars"  that  sang  together  at  the  birth 
of  a  fair  creation,  weep,  would  they  not  shed  tears  on  witnessing 
the  barbarity  of  those  "who  have  sought  out  many  inventions." 

In  contemplating  the  Mexicans,  we  are  reminded  of  the  impor 
tance  of  revelation;  for  though  enlightened,  yet  "by  wisdom  they 
knew  not  God." 

If  the  Central  Americans  came  from  the  plains  of  Shinar,  it  is 
supposed  the  Mexicans  emigrated  from  the  North- West.  Baron 
Von  Humboldt  says  the  Mexicans  had  many  traditions  of  the  fall 
of  man,  and  of  the  flood,  and  he  thinks  they  came  originally  from 
Aztland,  lat.  42°  north. 

John  Delafield,  Jr.,  Esq.,  has  published  an  interesting  work  on 
the  antiquities  of  Mexico.  He  thinks  the  Mexicans  "emigrated 
from  the  North,  and  on  their  way  constructed  the  various  tumuli, 
embankments,  fossa,  &c.,  found  in  western  North  America."  Ar> 
"Aztec  map,"  some  14  feet  in  length,  accompanies  the  volume,, 
and  explains  the  travels  of  this  race  through  America. 

Much  has  been  learned  in  relation  to  Mexican  history,  but  much 
must  remain  forever  concealed,  as  the  first  Archbishop  of  Mexico 
caused  a  mountainous  pile  to  be  made  of  the  first  MSS.  of  that 
country,  and  ordered  them  to  be  burnt  in  the  market  place.  Such 
was  the  loss  effected  by  the  Omar  of  the  West. 


We  know  less  of  the  antiquities  of  Peru  than  of  those  farther 
North.  They  may  be  ranked  with  the  Mexicans  in  point  of  civili 
zation. 

The  antiquities  of  North  America  consist  of  fortifications,  mounds,, 
pottery,  metallic  instruments,  &c.  They  must  have  been  left  by 
intelligent  nations  at  an  early  period.  This  is  evident  from  the 
remark  of  the  late  President  Harrison.  He  observes  that  it  would 
take  the  trees  growing  where  a  forest  was  cut  down  fifty  years 
since,  five  hundred  years  to  equal  in  height  the  surrounding  woods, 
and  that  a  forest  of  the  largest  trees  at  the  mouth  of  the  Great 
Miami,  consisting  of  fifteen  acres,  covers  the  ruins  left  by  former 
races. 

There  are  the  remains  of  a  fortification,  60  miles  west  of  Mil- 
waukie,  including  an  area  of  30  acres  of  land.  Large  trees  are 
growing  on  the  walls.  I  have  a  piece  of  the  burnt  brick  of  which 
they  are  built.  This  place  is  called  Aztland. 

I  have  also  a  piece  of  a  pillar  found  fifteen  feet  below  the  surface 
of  the  earth  in  Chautauque  county,  N.  Y.  Nameless  are  similar 
antiquities  the  curious  and  intelligent  are  bringing  to  light  from 
various  parts. 

The  people  of  Ohio,  living  in  a  land  of  monuments,  are  much 
interested  in  the  study  of  antiquities. 


DISCOVERY    OP    AMERICA.  11 

Mr.  Squier,  of  Chilicothe,  has  found  some  remarkable  antiquities 
in  mounds  of  that  vicinity.  He  has  penetrated  a  large  number  of 
the  ancient  tumuli.  He  divides  them  mainly  into  three  classes. 
The  first  were  erected  for  sacrificial  altars,  such  being  found  under 
the  different  strata.  The  second  were  built  as  burial  places,  and 
the  third  for  places  of  look-out.  An  account  of  his  researches  has 
been  published  by  the  Ethnoligical  Society,  N.  Y. 

FIRST  INHABITANTS  OF  AMERICA. — We  will  not  say,  as  the 
Athenians  said  of  their  nation,  that  the  first  inhabitants  of  America 
were  created  when  the  sun  was  first  lit  up  in  the  sky;  but  we  must 
presume  they  early  reached  this  continent  from  the  old  world. 

The  learned  Dr.  Clarke  says  that  the  continents  were  once 
united,  but  that,  by  the  force  of  winds  and  waves,  the  isthmuses 
were  broken  up  and  formed  into  islands  along  the  coasts.  Easy, 
however,  is  the  transition  from  the  East  to  the  West,  by  the  way 
of  Bhering's  straits,  when  we  consider  that  they  are  only  thirteen 
leagues  wide. 

Adverse  winds,  also,  might  have  driven  the  frail  vessels  of  the 
ancients  to  the  region  lying  on  the  gulf  of  Mexico,  and  elsewhere. 

But,  as  tropical  animals  found  in  America  could  not  have  crossed 
over  by  Bhering's  straits  when  frozen,  they  must  have  come  by 
land  that  once  extended  from  Asia,  or  Africa  to  America  in  the 
torrid  zone.  Should  it  be  asked  why  certain  animals,  as  the  horse 
and  the  cow,  not  found  originally  on  this  continent,  did  not  cross 
by  this  continuous  range  of  lands,  we  answer,  because  the  original 
continent  was  divided  as  possibly  in  the  days  of  Peleg,  (Gen.  10, 
25,)  before  such  animals  had  a  opportunity  to  migrate. 

I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  the  land  that  united  the  now  two 
continents,  was  the  Atlantis,  spoken  of  by  Plato,  Homer  and 
Hesiod.  Plato  saw  an  account  of  this  land  which  disappeared,  in 
the  hieroglyphics  of  Egypt.  I  saw  in  the  Jesuit's  College,  George 
town,  an  important  article  on  this  subject.  It  was  stated  that  there 
were  the  remains  of  a  sunken  tract  of  land  once  lying  between 
Brazil  and  Africa — that  such  are  seen  also  in  the  islands  of  Cape 
Verd  and  Ascension,  and  others,  and  in  the  numerous  sandbanks 
observed  by  Bauche  in  particular,  who  sounded  that  part  of  the 
Atlantic  with  great  accuracy. 

Extract  of  a  letter  from  Rev.  Mr.  Heyer  to  Rev.  Dr.  Van 
Vrankin,  New  Brunswick  .  "  Mr.  Davis  advocates  the  theory  that 
I  met  with  more  than  20  years  ago,  in  "  Calcott  on  the  Deluge," 
that  America  was  peopled  by  land  soon  after  the  flood;  that  at  that 
time  America  was  united  to  the  eastern  continent,  and  that  in  the 
days  of  Peleg  the  earth  was  divided.  The  Hebrew  word  NEPELE- 
GEH,  divided  as  by  the  coming  in  of  the  sea;  from  the  Greek  word 
Pelagos,  and  the  Latin  word  Pelagus,  being  derived. 


I'^J  A    LECTURE    ON    Till! 

I  think  from  the  plains  of  Sliinar,  men  and  animals  diverged  in 
all  directions.  As  it  is  said  in  Gen.  II,  8,  "So  the  Lord  scattered 
them  from  thence  upon  the  face  of  all  the  earth."' 

As  the  Europeans  on  coming  here  found  none  or  few  animals 
peculiar  to  the  eastern  continent,  I  think  only  a  part  of  the  various 
species  preserved  by  Noah  migrated  west.  Those  left  behind  ever 
remained  different  from  those  found  in  the  New  World  by  the 
Spaniards.  If  this  idea  is  new  to  others,  I  hope  it  may  be  consid 
ered  more  reasonable  than  the  infidel  opinion  that  men  and  animals 
were  distinct  creations  here  from  those  of  Asia. 

I  found  this  idea  corroborated  by  Buffon,  as  quoted  by  Clavigero 
in  his  work  on  Mexico. 

Think  you  they  would  have  transported  venomous  serpents  from 
the  old  to  the  new  world  1 

Ogilby,  cosmographer  to  the  English  sovereign,  1671,  thinks  that 
men  and  animals  came,  immediately  after  the  flood,  from  Armenia 
to  Tartary;  and  from  the  latter  place  to  this  continent,  by  a  con 
tinuous  range  of  land  extending  from  Asia  to  America  by  Bhering 
straits . 

I  think  with  Georgii  Hornii,  who  published  his  views,  1629,  in  a 
Latin  book,  that  this  migration  to  this  continent  took  place  immedi 
ately  after  the  confusion  of  tongues  at  Babel. 

By  this  primitive  people,  the  cities  of  the  South  rose  probably 
simultaneously  with  those  that  adorned  the  banks  of  the  Nile. 

The  traces  of  an  extinct  race  of  men  about  nine  feet  in  length, 
are  to  be  found  in  various  parts,  as  in  Ohio,  Kentucky,  Pennsylva 
nia;  Rhode  Island  and  New  York. 

And  is  it  strange  it  should  have  been  said  in  the  sacred  volume, 
"  and  there  were  giants  in  those  days'?" 

The  lights  of  science  and  revelation  commingle,  forming  one 
broad  stream  of  light  that  is  not  lost  but  amid  the  radiance  that 
encircles  the  throne  of  the  Eternal.  As  to  the  red  men,  clouds  of 
obscurity  conceal  their  origin.  Mr.  Schoolcraft,  late  Indian  Agent, 
thinks  they  are  of  Asiatic  origin.  Many  suppose  they  are  the 
descendents  of  the  Israelites.  Vague  are  their  own  tradition  as  to 
their  origin.  Some  Indians  say  they  come  from  the  East,  some 
from  the  West;  some  from  the  North,  and  some  from  the  South. 
Some  think  they  came  from  beneath  the  earth;  others  suppose  they 
came  from  the  skies. 

Mr.  Norman  has  published  a  valuable  work,  "Rambles  in  Yuca 
tan,"  lat.  20°  north.  I  have  seen  some  of  his  remarkable  antiqui 
ties,  as  Penates,  hieroglyphics  in  lime  stone,  the  material  of  these 
buildings.  He  kindly  gave  me  a  piece  of  Zuporte  wood  from 
lintels  found  amid  the  ruins.  It  is  hard,  fine,  heavy  and  as  last 
ing  as  time.  Beautiful  were  the  architecture  and  paintings  he 
saw.  The  latter  was  in  fresco,  and  as  fresh  apparently  as  if 
recently  executed,  Mr.  N.  thinks  the  cities  of  the  South  are  of 


DISCOVERY    OF    AMERICA.  13 

very  remote  origin;  that  they  were  antiquities  before  the  Christian  • 
era. 

After  a  brief  survey  of  American  antiquities,  well  may  we,  like 
the  old  patriot  of  Rome,  ascend  some  lofty  eminence  and  look  over 
the  wide  space  of  desolation !  Where  once  nations  met  in  the 
noon-day  of  their  glory,  now  wild  beasts  roam  and  venomous 
serpents  wend  their  way.  To  gaze  upon  the  past,  we  must  cross 
the  melancholy  flood 

"  Unto  the  kingdom  of  per;  etual  night." 

So  pass  away  the  glories  of  the  world,  with  man  its  lord  !  There 
is  nothing  permanent,  save  in  the  Spirit's  land,  and  if  there  be  any 
change  there,  it  is  Eternity's  rich  drama  of  bloom  and  perfection. 

The  eyes  of  mankind,  from  the  time  of  Pythagoras,  have  been 
turned  to  the  West,  in  anticipation  that  here  new  discoveries  were 
to  be  made;  and  hither  were  the  adventurers  at  length  led. 

Seneca,  Diadorus  Siculus,  Aristotle,  as  well  as  others,  speak  of 
regions  west  of  the  Atlantic. 

It  is  thought  Virgil  alludes  in  the  following  lines  to  places  West. 
In  speaking  of  Augustus,  he  says  that  — 

"  He  shall  his  power  to  India  extend, 

Beyond  the  annual  circle,  and  beyond 

The  sun's  long  progress,  where  great  Atlas  bears, 

Laden  with  golden  stars,  the  glittering  spheres." 

FIRST  KNOWN  DISCOVERIES  OF  AMERICA. — It  is  thought  Biarne 
was  accidentally  driven  by  fierce  winds  on  the  coast  of  Newfound-* 
land,  before  Lief  sailed  to  the  West. 

The  discovery  of  America  by  the  Northmen,  excites  a  vast  deal 
of  curiosity.  And  is  it  not  a  laudable  curiosity  that  leads  one  to 
ascertain  what  white  men  first  trod  regions  in  which  the  modest 
wild  flower  wasted  its  sweetness  on  the  desert  air  1 

As  Geography  is  one  of  the  eyes  of  History,  it  would  be  well 
at  this  time  to  direct  the  attention  to  the  map  of  North  America, 
and  to  those  of  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island  in  particular. 

The  Royal  Society  of  Northern  Antiquarians,  in  Copenhagen, 
have  lately  published  an  important  work.  While  the  contents  of 
this  massive  work  are  invaluable,  its  mechanical  execution  reflects 
great  honor  on  the  society  that  published  it. 

This  work  is  called,  as  translated  from  the  Latin,  "American 
Antiquities,  or  Northern  Writings  of  Things  in  America,  before 
the  time  of  Columbus." 

The  determination  was  formed  some  years  since  by  the  Royal 
Society  of  Antiquarians  in  Copenhagen,  to  publish  the  authorities 
on  which  these  accounts  rest,  in  the  original  documents,  accompa 
nied  with  full  commentaries  and  illustrations.  The  text  is  in  the 
Icelandic  tongue." 


14  A    LECTURE    ON    THE 

The  inquiry  is  often  made,  "who  were  the  Northmen  ?"  They 
were  the  descendants  of  the  Scandinavians,  who,  it  is  thought 
sprang  from  the  Thracians  mentioned  by  Homer — a  nation  now 
extinct.  The  Danes,  the  Swedes,  the  Norwegians  and  the  Ice 
landers,  all  come  under  the  name  of  Northmen  or  Norsemen. 
Their  literature  has  been  compared,  in  extent,  to  the  literary 
remains  of  Greece,  and  Latinum.  This  opens  a  new  fountain  of 
research,  where  the  scholar  may  often 

"  Return  and  linger,  linger  and  return." 

This  great  work  contains  two  Icelandic  documents,  now  for  the 
first  time  published  accurately,  in  a  complete  form,  purporting  to 
be  histories  written  by  or  for  persons  who  discovered  and  visited 
the  North  American  coast  early  in  the  eleventh  century,  confirmed 
and  illustrated  by  extracts  from  no  less  than  fifteen  other  original 
manuscripts,  in  which  the  facts  set  forth  in  these  histories  are  either 
mentioned  or  alluded  to.  The  Royal  Society  has  already  collect 
ed  two  thousand  Sagas,  or  works  of  Scandinavian  or  Icelandic 
history. 

In  this  work,  in  particular,  is  found  Adam  of  Bremen's  account 
of  the  discovery  of  America,  communicated  to  him  in  the  eleventh 
century,  by  Sweyn  Estrythson,  king  of  Denmark, 

1.  Are  these  documents  genuine? 

2.  If  so,  why  have  they  not  been  heard  of  before  ? 

The  work  itself  contains  evidences  of  the  antiquity  and  authen 
ticity  of  the  manuscripts,  from  which  the  publication  has  been  made, 
sufficient  to  raise  them  above  any  just  suspicion. 

These  documents,  as  Professor  Rafn  says,  have  been  known  to 
Icelandic  scholars;  but  these  have  been  so  few,  comparatively,  and 
the  means  of  those  few  so  limited,  that  they  have  not  been  able  to 
give  them  a  suitable  examination,  much  less  to  be  at  the  expense  of 
publishing  them. 

How  long  did  the  ancient  classics,  for  instance,  lay  concealed  in 
the  monasteries  of  Europe,  for  the  want  of  some  one  to  exhibit  them 
to  the  public  view]  These  Icelandic  documents  may  have  been  hid, 
in  like  manner,  in  the  libraries  of  priests.  And  we  may  say  that 
the  society  of  antiquarians,  in  Copenhagen  in  bringing  these  docu 
ments  to  light,  resembles  the  conduct  of  the  poet  laureat,  Petrarch, 
in  the  fourteenth  century,  who,  at  his  own  expense,  had  the  valua 
ble  manuscripts  of  antiquity  dragged  from  the  dust  of  the  cloisters, 
transcribed  and  exhibited  to  the  world. 

Who  does  not  admire  the  lovely  scenery,  where  the,  beautiful 
and  sublime  are  blended,  displayed  in  the  succession  of  falls  at 
Trenton,  N.  Y.?  Yet  these  were  concealed  for  ages,  till  a  master 
spirit  revealed  them  to  an  admiring  world.  And  does  not  iho  rnvcn 
wing  of  night  hide  the  works  of  art,  also,  till  disclosed  in  a  similar 
way?  The  learned  of  Iceland,  though  like  the  generality  of  poets, 


DISCOVERY    OP    AMERICA.  1 5 

poor;  yet  they  were  not  disposed,  like  Milton,  to  sell  their  manu 
scripts  for  a  paltry  sum. 

It  is  well  known  the  Norwegians  have  long  claimed  the  honor  of 
discovering  and  colonizing  America  be^pre  the  time  of  Columbus. 

Instead  of  this  discovery  being  a  new-fangled  theory,  as  some 
say,  there  have  been  several  works  published  in  Europe  upwards  of 
a  century,  which  speak  of  these  facts.  Wormius  speaks  of  this 
discovery  in  a  Latin  translation,  published  in  the  University  of 
Oxford,  in  or  about  1716.  In  Adam  of  Bremen's  account,  published 
1629,  he  uses  the  following  striking  language:  "  Non  fabulosa 
opinione,  sed  certa  relatione  Danorum;"  that  is,  in  a  free  traasla- 
tion,  "  This  is  not  a  fabulous  opinion,  but  a  true  narrative  given  by 
the  Danes  themselves."  Dr,  Franklin,  in  a  letter  to  a  distinguished 
antiquary  formerly  of  Switzerland,  says  positively  that  the  Danes 
came  into  New  England  before  the  time  of  Columbus.  Dr.  Mather 
published  an  account,  also,  of  this  discovery  in  1772. 

The  celebrated  Dr.  Henderson,  who  travelled  in  Iceland,  says- 
that  the  fact  of  this  early  discovery  was  well  known  to  the  Iceland 
ers — that  it  was  authenticated  by  Northern  historians.  It  is  a 
remarkable  fact,  that  Iceland,  where  these  documents  relating  to 
the  early  discovery  were  preserved,  was  the  Athens  of  the  North, 
during  the  Dark  Ages. 

During  the  Middle  Ages,  the  Icelanders  were  the  most  intelligent 
people  in  the  North.  Even  now,  as  Henderson  says,  youth  can1 
repeat  passages  from  Latin  and  Greek  authors,  who  have  never 
been  but  a  few  miles  from  the  place  of  their  birth.  Truly,  the 
hardy  Icelanders  were  our  librarians  and  historians. 

Iceland  appears  to  have  been  a  medium  of  communication  be 
tween  Norway  and  Greenland, — a  stepping  stone,  as  it  were,  from 
one  continent  to  another. 

Iceland,  thought  by  some  to  be  the  "  Ultima  Thule  "  of  Virgil,. 
%vas  discovered  by  the  Norwegians  in  861 .  The  oppression  of 
king  Harold  Harfaga  drove  them  there  for  an  asylum. 

But  the  restless  spirit  of  the  Northmen  would  not  allow  them  to 
be  idle .  They  made  incursions  in.  every  direction,  and  discovered 
Greenland  in  984. 

In  986,  a  colony  was  begun  by  Eric  the  Red.  This  was  at  length 
destroyed.  By  the  exertions  of  the  Danish  Society,  the  ruins  of 
this  settlement  have  been  discovered.  It  was  located  on  the 
West,  near  Cape  Farwell.  It  is  seen  in  the  remains  of  churches? 
and  buildings. 

Leif  the  son  of  Eric,  commenced  a  voyage  of  discovery  in  the 
year  1000.  His  crew  consisted  of  thirty-five  men  Leif  was  the 
first  to  introduce  missionaries  into  Greenland. 

After  sailing  sometime  south-west,  they  made  land.  They  an 
chored  and  went  ashore.  This  place  was  destitute  of  grass,  and 
was  covered  with  a  slaty  rock,  which  they  called  Helluland.  This 


16  A   LECTUIE  ON    THE 

is  supposed  to  be  Labrador.     Fishermen  and  travellers  of  the- 
ent.  day  give  a  like  description  of  that  barren  region. 

From  thence  they  sailed  southwardly;  and  after  holding  on  for 
some  time,  they  again  made^  land  and  went  ashore.  This  country 
was  level,  had  a  low  coast,  presenting  here  and  there,  bluffs 
of  white  sand,  and  was  thickly  covered  with  wood.  This  they 
named  Markland  or  Woodland.  This  is  thought  to  be  Nova 
Scotia. 

Leaving  Markland,  they  sailed  south-westerly,  with  a  fair  wind, 
two  days  before  seeing  land  again,  when  they  passed  down  a  prom 
ontory,  probably  the  east  side  of  Cape  Cod,  stretching  east  and 
north;  and  then  turning  west  between  an  island,  (Martha's  Vine 
yard)  and  the  main  land,  they  entered  a  bay  (Naragansett  Bay) 
through  which  a  river  (Taunton  River)  flowed,  when  they  came  to 
anchor  and  went  ashore.  Resolving  to  spend  the  winter  here  they 
called  the  place  Leifsbuthir,  or  place  of  booths.  Here,  finding  grapes 
very  plenty,  they  called  the  place  Vinland  or  Wincland  the  good. 
This  land,  to  those  coming  from  the  remote  North,  appeared  as 
nature  in  the  ''world's  first  spring." 

Early  in  the  season  they  returned  to  Greenland.  Leif  s  return 
became  the  principle  subject  of  conversation. 

The  next  adventure  was  Thorwold  his  brother.  And  you  will 
observe  that  he  and  the  other  navigators  gave  the  same  account  of 
places  they  visited.  Were  not  this  the  case,  who  could  believe  any 
of  their  reports  1 

Thorwold,  thinking  the  country  had  not  been  sufficiently  explor 
ed,  set  sail  in  1002,  and  proceeded  to  Leifsbuthir,  where  he  lived 
till  1004. 

In  the  spring  of  1004,  he  sailed  from  Leifsbuthir.  After  pass 
ing  along  the  shore  of  the  promontory,  east  and  north,  they  sailed 
round  a  sharp  point  of  land,  called  K  jar  lanes.  This  must  have 
been  Cape  Cod.  Kjarlanes  implies  Keel-cape.  For  Cape  Cod  at 
the  extremity,  is  in  the  shape  of  the  keel  of  ancient  vessels,  which 
curved  inward. 

These  Northmen  were  peaceable  men.  They  were  not  like 
Phaston,  who  would  gladly  have  seized  the  reins  of  the  chariot  of 
the  sun  to  set  the  world  on  fire.  It  must  not  be  denied,  however, 
that  the  second  great  navigator,  Thorwold,  assailed  the  natives 
without  cause;  but  in  using  the  sword  he  perished  by  the  sword. 
On  receiving  a  mortal  wound,  he  requested  that  after  his  death, 
crosses  might  be  placed  at  either  end  of  his  grave. 

The  Catholic  ministers  <  in  giving  an  account  of  their  first  mis 
sionary  labors  in  this  country,  speak  of  the  custom  of  the  natives 
in  wearing  crosses.  Such  must  have  been  introduced  by  the  North 
men  Christians. 

I  mentioned  this  circumstance,  lately  to  the  librarian  of  the 
American  Antiquarian  Society,  Worcester;  and  he  said  that  a 


DISCOVERY    OF    AMERICA.  17 

Cross  had  been  sent  to  that  institution  by  a  gentleman  of  Ohio.  I 
saw  this  emblem  of  the  Christian  faith.  It  must  have  been  hid 
from  the  light  of  heaven  for  centuries.  This  silver  cross  is  about 
two  and  a  half  inches  long.  It  was  found  on  the  breast  of  a  female 
skeleton,  one  of  which  was  dug  from  a  mound  at  Columbus,  over 
which  a  forest  of  trees  had  grown.  On  this  cross  the  capital  letters 
I  S.  are  perfectly  visible.  And  what  can  these  letters  imply,  but 
the  initials  of  the  sacred  name,  IESUS  SALVATOR  I 

Who  can  doubt,  then,  that  the  "Sun  of  Righteousness"  cast  his 
bright  beams  on  the  land  west  of  the  dread  Atlantic,  long  before 
the  time  of  Columbus. 

In  1006,  Thorfins  or  Thorfin  commanded  one  of  the  three 
ships  that  came  from  Iceland  to  Greenland.  He  was  of  royal 
lineage. 

In  the  spring  of  1007,  Thorfin,  with  three  ships  and  one  hundred 
and  sixty  men,  besides  cattle  and  all  necessary  materials  for  estab 
lishing  a  colony,  set  sail  for  Vinland. 

They  sailed  to  Helluland  or  Labrador;  from  thence  to  Markland 
or  Nova  Scotia;  and  from  thence  to  Kjarlanes,  or  Cape  Cod. — 
Sailing  south  by  the  east  side  of  the  promontory  which  terminated 
at  Kjarlanes,  they  passed  along  beaches  or  trackless  deserts  of  sand. 
How  descriptive  of  this  bleak  and  sterile  coast ! 

Those  who  have  sailed  from  Boston  to  Narragansett  Bay,  are 
ready  to  say  that  I  am  not  drawing  an  ideal  picture. 

Continuing-  their  course  they  arrived  at  an  island.  They  called 
it  Shaumey.  This  is  supposed  to  be  Martha's  Vineyard.  Nine 
men  went  away  in  one  of  the  ships  and  never  returned.  It  is  said 
they  were  driven  on  the  coast  of  Ireland,  where  they  were  seized 
as  slaves. 

In  the  spring  Thorfin  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  others  went  to 
the  main  land.  They  called  the  place  Hop,  the  residence  after 
wards  of  King  Phillip.  Here  they  found  large  numbers  of  skrel- 
lings  or  natives.  Thorfin  carried  on  a  traffic  with  them,  by  ex 
changing  bits  of  colored  cloth  for  furs.  In  consequence  of  their 
frequent  attacks,  in  1009  they  returned  to  Greenland.  Then,  it 
will  be  recollected,  the  Northmen  had  not  the  use  of  fire-arms  with 
which  to  defend  themselves  against  the  assaults  of  the  savages. — 
These  lords  of  the  wilds  had  a  rude  kind  of  engine,  by  which  they 
hurled  large  stones  against  their  foes;  and  it  is  possible  that  the 
white  man  would  never  have  driven  the  red  man  from  the  Atlantic 
to  the  Rocky  mountains,  *but  for  the  invention  of  gunpowder. 

I  cannot  forbear  to  speak  of  the  valor  of  one  of  this  crew  of  the 
Northmen,  a  female.  When  all  the  rest  were  disposed  to  flee  before 
the  savage  foe,  she  exclaimed:  "If  I  only  had  a  weapon,  I  ween  I 
could  fight  better  than  any  of  you."  Ah !  when  we  consider  the 
patriotism  of  the  females  at  the  seige  of  Carthage,  who  cut  their 
locks  to  make  ropes  for  engines  of  war;  and  when  we  recollect  the 
3 


18  A  LECTURE  ON  THE 

courage  of  Isabella  of  Castile,  who,  at  the  conquest  of  Grenada, 
though  in  ill  health,  led  on  her  veterans  to  conquest  and  glory,  have 
we  not  reason  to  suppose  that  this  Scandinavian  was  sincere  in  her 
declaration  ?  Truly  valor  and  benevolence  are  but  parallel  streams 
in  the  female  heart.  We  would  not  applaud  courage,  however 
unless  under  the  control  of  a  high  and  holy  principle. 

Thortin  married  Gudrida,  the  widow  of  Thorstein,  third  son  of 
Eric.  She  accompanied  her  husband  to  Vinland.  Snorre  their  son 
was  the  first  white  child  born  in  America.  From  him  descended 
the  distinguished  associate  of  Proffessor  Rafn,  Finn  Magnusen. — 
The  late  great  Sculptor,  Thorwalsden  of  Denmark,  was  of  this 
family.  Bishop  Thulock  Rudolfson,  was  a  descendant  of  Thorfin's 
and  it  is  supposed  that  he  wrote  or  compiled  these  documents. 

A  distinguished  geologist  from  Denmark  has  lately  found  the 
remains  of  an  Icelandic  city  in  Brazil.  He  discovered  Runic  in 
scriptions  on  flagstones.  Above  all,  he  found  a  statue  of  the  North 
man  god  of  thunder.  Thor,  with  his  attributes,  the  magic  girdle 
and  hammer. 

Thorfin,  the  most  distinguished  of  these  returned  to  Iceland, 
where  he  ended  his  days,  living  in  great  splendor 

The  editor  of  the  American  Antiquities,  Professor  Rafn,  and 
his  associate,  Professor  Finn  Magnusen,  think  that  Vinland  was 
situated  in  the  east  part  of  Rhode  Island,  and  in  the  south  part 
of  Massachusetts,  on  or  about  Narragamsett  Bay  and  Taunton 
River. 

The  points  in  the  Icelandic  doctrments  alluding  to  the  locality  to 
Vinland,  may  be  reckoned  the  Geography,  Natural  History,  Astron 
omical  Phenomena,  and  vestiges  of  Residence  of  Northmen  in  that 
place.  All  these,  in  the  opinion  of  the  editor  of  the  American  An 
tiquities,  point  to  the  head  of  Narragansett  Bay,  or  Mt.  Hope  Bay, 
as  the  locality  of  Hop,  the  central  part  of  Vinland. 

As  the  Royal  Society  have  held  correspondence  with  several 
learned  societies  in  this  country  for  some1  years,  they  are  well  qual 
ified  to  form  a  judgment  on  this  subject.  Dr.  Webb  now  of  Bos 
ton  formsrly  Secretary  of  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society, 
and  J.  R.  Bartlett,  Esq.,  of  New  York,  have  been  very  efficient 
agents  in  aiding  the  Royal  Society  in  presenting  this  great  work 
to  the  world. 

The  following  letter  from  the  late  General  Holstein,  Professor 
in  the  "Albany  Female  Academy,"  will  show  the  care  taken  to  ac 
quire  information  relative  to  American  Antiquities: 

"  In  proof  the  great  exertions  made  by  the  Northern  Antiqua 
rian  Society,  in  Copenhagen,  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  Scandina 
vian  Antiquities  in  America,  I  hereby  state  that,  several  years  since 
a  letter  of  inquiry,  sealed  with  the  seal  of  the  Society,  was  sent  to  a 
professional  gentleman  of  Geneva,  in  this  State,  a  translation  of 
which  I  made  from  the  Danish  tongue." 


I 
DISCOVERY    OF    AMERICA.  19 

THE  GEOGRAPHY  OF  VINL AND.— Concerning  the  situation  of 
Helluland  there  can  be  no  doubt,  as  it  was  the  first  land  southwest 
of  Greenland.  Where  else  could  this  have  been,  unless  the  coast 
of  Labrador. 

Markland  was  situated  south-west  from  Helluland,  three  day's 
sail,  or  three  hundred  and  sixty  English  miles.  This  is  supposed  to 
be  Nova  Scotia. 

The  distance  of  Nova  Scotia  and  New  Brunswick  agrees  with 
.the  account  the  Icelanders  gave  of  Markjand. 

Vinland  was  situated  two  day's  sail,  or  about  two  hundred  and 
forty  English  miles  to  the  south-west  of  Markland;  and  if  Mark- 
land  has  been  properly  located,  must  be  sought  in  or  the  near 
south  part  of  Massachusetts. 

In  the  Icelandic  documents,  it  is  said  that  Hop,  the  residence  of 
T.borfin,  was  situated  on  an  elevation  of  land,  near  a  river  which 
flowed  south,  through  a  bay  into  the  ocean.  From  this  the  land 
stretched  east;  and,  turning  north,  formed  a  promontory,  which 
terminated  in  a  point  or  cape,  which  they  called  Kjarlanes.  The 
east  side  of  the  promontory  was  bound  by  long,  narrow  beaches, 
or  sand  hills.  To  those  who,  like  myself,  have  often  viewed  the 
Atlantic,  from  these  sand  hills,  this  account  appears  peculiarly 
striking. 

NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  VINLAND. — Vinland  was  remarkable  for 
its  beautiful  vines,  maple  trees,  maize,  and  a  great  variety  of  wild 
animals.  The  waters  abounded  with  fish,  and  were  occasionally 
visited  with  whales.  Birds  were  numerous.  The  eider  duck  was 
seen  about  the  islands  in  large  numbers. 

As  to  vines,  they  are  said  to  be  numerous  even  now;  and  this  is 
more  particularly  true  of  the  country  around  Narragansett  Bay. — 
And  was  not  an  island  called  Martha's  Vineyard,  on  account  of  the 
multiplicity  of  vines  growing  there? 

The  celebrated  Bishop  Berkly,  who  attempted  to  establish  a  the 
ological  seminary  in  Rhode  Island,  says,  in  his  letter  to  his  friends 
in  Europe,  that  vines  were  as  plenty  on  the  Island  as  in  Italy.  Gos- 
inald,  who  visited  the  Elizabeth  Isles  in  1602,  say,  that  vines  were 
in  great  profusion  there. 

In  the  documents  it  is  said  that,  in  that  region,  are  the  red,  sugar 
and  bird's-eye  maple.  The  Northmen  cut  down  the  trees;  and, 
after  they  were  dry,  they  loaded  their  ships  with  the  timber.  It 
is  supposed  that  the  bird's-eye  variety  was  made  an  article  of  com 
merce. 

As  to  Indian  corn  or  maize,  it  seems  our  pilgrim  fathers  found 
some  in  what  is  now  called  Truro,  near  the  end  of  the  Cape.  It 
was  buried  in  the  earth  to  preserve  it.  Indian  corn  has  never  been 
found  North  of  45°  North  latitude. 

It  is  needless  to  remind  the  reader  of  the  multiplicity  of  fish  that 
still  abound  in  the  waters  of  this  region.  The  sportsman,  may,  at 


•JO  A  LECTURE  ON    THE 

this  day,  toll  his  friends,  in  the  language  of  Capt.  Smith,  of  James-: 
town,  who  described  this  quarter,  *  'of  the  pleasures  to  he  derived 
from  angling,  and  crossing  the  sweet  air,  from  isle  to  isle,  over  the 
silent  streams  of  a  calm  sea." 

As  to  whales,  I  have  occasionally  seen  them  spouting  around  the 
sandy  shores  of  the  Cape. 

In  regard  to  the  eider  duck,  in  the  Latin  translation  it  is  called 
"anas  mollissima,"  a  duck  with  the  finest  feathers.  The  real  eider 
duck  of  Iceland,  is.  at  this  day,  frequently  seen  around  Martha's 
Vineyard,  Wild  fowl  must  have  been  numerous  there,  as  an 
island  is  still  called  Egg  Island,  from  the  quantity  of  eggs  they 
desposited.* 

THORFIX  DESCRIBES  THE  SOIL  AND  CLIMATE. — The  winters  of 
of  Vinland  are  said  to  be  remarkably  mild,  but  little  snow  falling, 
and  cattle  subsisting  out  of  doors,  through  the  winter. 

This  account  does  not  agree  with  the  description  of  New  Eng 
land  winters  at  this  time.  Still,  however,  it  has  been  the  practice 
of  the  farmers  on  Nantucket  and  Martha's  Vineyard,  to  let  their 
sheep  and  cattle  lie  out  during  the  winter.  But  the  cold  winters  of 
New  England,  compared  with  those  of  Greenland,  are  as  the  mild 
ness  of  spring.  They  speak,  however,  of  a  snowy  winter. 

But  there  have  been  great  changes  in  the  face  of  the  earth  and 
in  the  climate  in  different  ages.  Change  is  the  law  of  nature. 
Has  not  one  of  the  bright  clusters  been  blotted  out  from  the  map 
of  heaven?  Such  changes  also  take  place  on  the  face  of  the 
earth. 

The  Dead  Sea,  was,  in  early  times,  sixty  miles  long.  It  is  now 
only  thirty.  And  even  old  Ontario  and  Erie  have  receeded  from 
their  former  bounds,  leaving  to  the  present  generation  a  rich  tract 
of  land,  several  miles  wide,  and  a  beautiful  ridge-road.  Who  does 
not  admire  the  everlasting  rock,  rising  in  stern  grandeur,  on  either 
side  of  the  Mowhawk,  at  the  Little  Falls,  N.  Y.?  Yet,  the  lovely 
vale  above  must  once  have  been  the  bed  of  a  vast  lake.  This  is 
manifest  from  the  fact,  that  there  are  "pot  holes"  found  at  an  ele 
vation  of  sixty  feet  above  the  river,  at  these  falls. 

These  circular  excavations  were  made  ages  since,  by  the  circum 
volution  of  stones,  driven  by  the  rapid  descent  of  the  waters.  You 
can  see  a  demonstration  of  this  fact,  by  looking  at  the  high  falls  of 
Black  River  or  Trenton. 

And  what  a  mighty  labor  was  that  for  the  waters  of  this  lake  to 
have  found  their  way,  gradually  through  the  high  and  continuous 
wall  of  granite  where  now  the  Mohawk  murmurs  as  it  rolls  along 
its  new  channel. 

*Mr.  Audubon,  whose  letter  to  me  is  on  the  second  page,  sayg  he  has  seen  in  Labra 
dor,  twenty -seven  nests  of  the  eider  duck  within  a  very  small  compass 


DISCOVERY    OF    AMERICA.  21 

Geological  facts  prove  that  it  was  much  warmer,  formerly,  in  the 
North  than  it  is  now. 

Large  forests  once  flourished  in  Lapland. 

It  is  not  to  be  disputed  that,  in  former  ages,  Iceland  produced 
timber  in  abundance .  Large  trees  are  occasionally  found  there  in 
the  marshes  and  valleys,  to  a  considerable  depth  in  the  ground  — 
Segments  of  the  fossil-trees  have  lately  been  exported,  in  proof  of 
the  alleged  fact. 

It  is  asserted  in  the  ancient  Icelandic  records,  that  when  Ingulf 
the  Norwegian,  first  landed  in  Iceland,  879,  he  found  so  thick  a 
cluster  of  birch  trees  that  he  penetrated  them  with  difficulty. 

Henderson,  in  his  travels  in  Iceland,  says  that  the  climate  has 
deteriorated  there,  from  the  fact  that  it  was  once  shaded  with  for-, 
ests, 

When  the  first  Norwegian  colony  settled  in  Greenland,  about 
1000  years  ago,  they  found  no  difficulty  from  ice  in  approaching 
the  coast,  and  a  regular  correspondence  was  supported  by  their 
people  for  many  years. 

ASTRONOMICAL  PHENOMENA. — The  learned  editor  and  his  asso 
ciate  deduce  from  the  astronomical  data,  lat.  41°  24'  16",  which  is 
the  latitude  of  Narragansett  Bay,  and  Mount  Hope.  There,  at  the 
winter  solstice,  December  22,  the  day  is  nine  hours. 

That  the  Northmen  were  capable  of  taking  latitudes,  is  evident 
from  the  circumstance,  that  at  that  period  they  speak  of  eclipses, 
which  have  lately  been  calculated  by  Sir  David  Brewster,  and  the 
distinguished  Norwegian  astronomer,  Hanstein,  and  found  correct. 

The  reading,  however,  that  leads  to  the  above  calculation,  has 
been  disputed  The  whole  controversy  turns  upon  the  meaning  of 
two  words.  From  what  we  can  understand,  we  presume  the  editor 
is  correct  in  his  exposition. 

But  suppose  we  were  to  reject  all  history  on  account  of  some 
apparent  or  real  discrepancy  in  narration?  *In  such  a  case,  some 
future  reader  might  declare  that  the  history  of  the  American  revo 
lution  was  neither  credible  nor  authentic,  for  it  is  said' that  the 
distinguished  battle  of  the  17th  June,  1775,  was  fought  on  Bunker's 
Hill,  instead  of  Breed's.  Who  does  not  know  that  Bunker's  Hill, 
rising  back  of  Breed's,  is  more  elevated  than  the  latter  on  which 
the  monument  is  rising?  [Yes,  and  by  the  patriotism  of  the  ladies 
of  1840,  now  towers  to  the  stars.] 

LITTLE  CAN  BE  SAID  OF  THE  VESTIGES  OF  THE  RESIDENCE  OF  THE 
NORTHMEN  IN  THIS  COUNTRY. — There  is  a  large  rock  at  the  junc 
tion  of  Smith's  creek  with  Taunton  river,  with  a  singular  inscription 
on  it.  It  was  evidently  made  with  an  iron  instrument.  Passing 


#2  A  LECTURE  ON  THE 


the  particular  remarks  of  the  editor  on  these  letters,  I  would 

give  his  supposition  as  to  their  meaning. 


rxxxi 

fORFINS 


Thorfins,  with  one  hundred  and  fifty-one  men  took  possession  of 
this  country.  The  first  figure  on  the  second  line  is  wanting  in  the 
rook.  It  is  supposed  it  was  made  as  above  for  TH.  While  Mr. 
Schoolcraft  believes  in  the  discovery  of  the  Northmen,  he  thinks 
this  inscription  was  left  by  the  Indians. 

Professor  Rafn  has  deciphered  an  inscription  on^the  Paradisic 
rock  of  Iceland,  which  he  says  proves  beyond  a  doubt  the  Euro 
pean  origin  of  the  inscription  on  this  in  Massachusetts. 

John  R.  Bartlett,  Esq.,  copied  the  inscription.  He  found  the 
characters  permanently  imbedded  in  the  rock  called  Gneiss. 

There  are  similar  inscriptions  on  rocks  in  the  vicinity  of  Mount 
Hope  Bay. 

The  people  of  the  North  of  Europe  were  fond  of  making  in 
scriptions  on  rocks  on  the  borders  of  lakes  and  rivers;  for  such  are 
found  in  Norway,  Sweden  and  Scotland.  They  are  called  Runes. 

The  Northmen  originally  used  sixteen  of  these  Runic  characters. 

One  of  these  inscriptions,  found  on  a  rock  in  Sweden,  has  been 
deciphered  by  Professor  Finn  Magnusen.  The  inscription  relates 
to  a  battle  fought  about  A.  D.  680  between  the  kings  of  Norway 
and  Sweden.  Accounts  of  this  battle  were  given  by  authentic 
historians.  In  a  work  just  issued  in  Denmark,  it  is  proved  that 
there  are  several  other  inscriptions  found  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Taunton  like  the  one  above.  Also,  that  the  old  stone  building  at 
Newport,  R.  I.,  was  erected  by  the  Northmen;  for  it  is  exactly 
like  the  stone  houses  of  Norway,  built  as  baptisteries.  The  oldest. 

ople  of  Bbode  Island  know  nothing  of  the  origin  of  that  curiously 


.  Gibbs,  of  R.  L,  owns  it,  and  believes  it  was  erected  by 
the  Northmen.  Rev.  Mr.  Kip,  of  Albany,  tells  me  he  saw  at  the 
residence  of  the  Duke  of  Tuscany,  a  Swedish  Count,  who  spake  of 
this  building  as  the  work  of  the  Northmen.  He  was  perfectly 
familiar  with  the  discoveries  of  those  whom  he  proudly  called  his 
people.  Mr.  K.  also  saw  in  Italy  the  famous  painting  of  Leutze, 
representing  the  landing  of  the  Northmen  in  America.  This  large 
painting  has  been  brought  to  New  York,  where  I  saw  it  lately 
among  other  grand  specimens  of  living  masters. 

The  light  of  evidence  constantly  flowing  in  from  every  quarter, 
confirms  fully  the  fact  that  the  men  of  the  North  crossed  the  At 
lantic  before  the  day  of  Columbus,  Objections  to  this  theory  are 
now  few,  and,  like  angel's  visits,  "far  between." 


DISCOVERY    OP    AMERICA.  23 

1'he  late  Noah  Webster,  Esq.,  told  me  he  examined  the  subject 
forty  years  since,  and  came  to  the  above  conclusion 

W.  H.  Prescott,  LL.  D.,  advances  the  same  opinion  in  his  late 
splendid  work  on  Mexico. 

Bishop  Hawks  has  written  a  valuable  little  work  on  "  lost  Green 
land,  in  which  he  speaks  of  17  bishops,  who  successively  presided 
in  that  country.  The  colony  suddenly  disappeared  in  or  near  1614.' 
The  present  colony  was  established  in  1721.  The  son  of  a  Danish 
bishop  told  me  he  lately  saw  the  Governor  of  Greenland,  an  old 
school-mate  of  his,  who  showed  him  a  book  published  in  Greenland, 
giving  an  account  of  these  discoveries.  If  had  a  rude  map  of  Cape 
Cod  and  Boston  Harbor. 


Were  the  Northmen  capable  of  making  discoveries,  and  of 
recording  them?  The  rude  children  of  our  forests  could  not  per 
form  a  work  so  mighty. 

The  Roman  historian,  Tacitus,  spake  of  the  invasion  of  the 
North  before  the  Christian  era.  He  says  of  Cimbri,  that  they  were 
not  a  small  tribe,  but  mighty  in  fame;  that  the  vestiges  of  their 
ancient  glory  still  remained  in  their  fortifications;  that  no  other 
nation  had  so  often  given  them  cause  to  dread  their  arms — not  the 
Carthagenians,  or  Spaniards  or  Gauls. 

In  later  times  the  Northmen  made  incursions  upon  Germany, 
France,  England,  the  Orkney,  Farroe  and  Shetland  Isles. 

The  French  were  in  such  fear  of  the  Northmen,  that  they  in 
serted  in  their  Liturgy,  UA.  furore  Normanorum,  libera  nos,  O 
Domine."* 

In  the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries,  the  Danes  or  Northmen  invaded 
England,  and  seated  one  of  their  favorite  princes,  Canute,  on  the 
throne  of  Alfred. 

They  were  a  daring  people  —  the  sea  was  their  home  —  the 
mountain  wave  was  the  scene  of  their  sport  —  far  and  wide  did 
they  wander  without  compass  to  guide. 

Their  vessels  were  built  of  timber  that  is  now  eagerly  sought  by 
the  first  maritime  nations  of  the  earth. 

A  people,  some  of  whose  leaders  boasted  of  never  having  slept 
by  a  cottage  fire,  became  the  dread  of  Christendom.  They  ruled 
the  waters  from  the  Arctic  ocean  to  the  Azores — they  passed 
between  the  pillars  of  Hercules — they  ravaged  the  coasts  of  Spain 
and  France — sacked  the  cities  of  Tuscany — drove  the  Saracens 
from  Sicily.  They  desolated  the  classic  fields  of  Greece — pene 
trated  the  walls  of  Constantinople.  Yes,  in  rescuing  the  Holy 
Sepulchre,  they  led  the  van  of  the  chivalry  of  Europe.  Mark 
their  valor  and  their  success;  for  one  hundred  Northmen  knights,- 

*  From  the  rage  of  the  Northmen,  good  Lord  deliver  us. 


24  A    LECTURE    ON    THE 

with  one  aid  or  squire  each,  drove  ten  thousand  Saracens  from 
Sicily.  Scott  gives  a  beautiful  description  of  this  remarkable 
people,  in  speaking  of  the  Western  Isles: 

"  Thither  came  in  times  afar 

Stern  Lochlin's  sons  of  roving  war; 

The  Northmen,  trained  to  spoil  and  blood, 

Skilled  to  prepare  the  raven's  food; 

Kings  of  the  main,  their  leaders  brave, 

Their  barks  the  dragons  of  the  wave." 

In  describing  king  Harold's  ship  it  is  said: 

"  And  dragon's  heads  adorn  the  prow  of  gold," 

Seest  thou  the  tiny  fleet  of  some  school-boy,  launched  on  an 
isolated  sheet  of  water?  And  such  were  the  greatest  armaments 
of  the  famous  nations  of  antiquity,  compared  with  those  of  the 
Northmen . 

The  present  illustrious  Queen  of  England,  is  a  direct  descendant 
of  the  Northmen.  It  will  be  recollected  that  Rollo,  the  Norman, 
invaded  France  in  912,  and  enthroned  himself  in  the  North.  In 
1066,  William  of  Normandy  conquered  England.  These  sove 
reigns  were  Northmen,  and  from  their  family  the  pride  and  glory 
of  Great  Britain  descended. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh  century,  the  Danes  and  Nor 
wegians  were  converted  to  Christianity,  and  thereby  received  a 
new  impulse,  that  led  him  to  extend  the  blessings  of  the  Gospel. 
And  who  but  this  people  could  ever  have  established  missions  in 
Greenland? 


What  shall  we  say  of  the  ability  of  the  Northmen  to  record  in 
cidents  of  their  voyages? 

In  the  year  1000,  on  their  conversion  to  Christianity,  they 
adopted  the  Roman  alphabet.  This  was  their  Augustan  age.  The 
thirst  of  the  Icelanders  for  learning,  is  seen  in  the  conduct  of  Ulfi- 
jot,  their  supreme  legislator,  who,  in  925,  undertook  a  voyage  to 
Norway,  in  his  sixtieth  year,  to  acquire  a  more  perfect  knowledge 
of  the  legal  customs  and  institions  of  the  parent  country. 

In  Iceland  the  learned  were  called  Skalds  and  Sagamen. 

The  former  were  poets  and  historians.  Skalds  denote  '-'smooth 
ers  and  polishers  of  language." 

The  Sagamen  recited  in  prose,  with  greater  detail,  what  the 
Skalds  had  recited  in  verse. 

By  the  recitations  of  the  Skalds,  the  real  and  traditionary  history 
of  the  country  was  transmitted  from  generation  to  generation. 

Memory  is,  perhaps,  the  most  improvable  faculty  of  our  nature. 
Deprived  of  books  it  depends  upon  its  own  resources.  Its  strength 


DISCOVERY    OF    AMERICA.  25 

is  seen  in  the  following  instance  :  An  Icelandic  Skald  sang  sixty 
different  lays  in  one  evening,  before  King  Harold  Sigurdson;  and 
being  asked  if  he  knew  any  more,  declared  that  these  were  only 
the  half  he  could  sing, 

Their  traditionary  histories  were  written  down  and  preserved. 

As  poetry  is  among  the  antiquities  of  all  nations,  the  events  it 
records  have  ever  been  preserved  by  the  recitations  of  Skalds, 
Minstrels  or  Bards. 

And  whom  does  the  conqueror  of  Wales  cut  off  from  the  land? 
Does  not  Edward  the  First,  of  England,  destroy  the  minstrels  of 
Wales,  lest  they  should,  by  their  recitations,  awaken  that  spirit  of 
liberty  in  the  breasts  of  the  vanquished,  which  would  lead  them  to 
throw  off  the  yoke  of  the  British  monarch?  — . — ^  UB 

These  Skalds  wer&  distinguished  men — the  companions  or  Kings. 
They  sometimes  were  kings,  as  in  the  instance  of  Regnar  Lodbrok. 

The  Sagamen  made  their  recitations  in  public  and  private,  at 
convenient  opportunities. 

If  Augustus  delighted  to  have  Virgil  and  Horace  on  either  hand, 
so  the  Scandinavian  monarchs  rejoiced  to  have  Skalds  and  Saga- 
men  in  their  presence. 

At  solemn  feasts  the  services  of  these  men  were  required. 

Saemund,  in  1056,  collected  the  different  poems  relating  to  the 
mythology  and  history  of  the  North.  The  collection  was  called 
the  "Poetic  Edda."  He  was  a  man  of  learning,  having  been 
educated  at  the  Universities  of  Germany  and  France. 

He  performed  for  the  ancient  poems  the  same  office  which  is 
said  to  have  been  done  by  the  ancient  Greek  rhapsodist  who  first 
collected  and  arranged  the  songs  of  his  predecessors,  and  reduced 
them  to  one  continuous  poem,  called  Homer's  Iliad. 

Snorre  Sturlson,  judge  of  Iceland,  was  the  most  distinguished 
scholar  of  his  day.  His  principal  work  was  the  Prosaic  Edda?  It 
treats  in  particular  of  Scandinavian  mythology.  He  lived  in  1 178. 
His  bath  still  attracts  the  attention  of  the  traveler.  The  acqueduct 
of  it  is  five  hundred  feet  long,  and  is  composed  of  hewn  stone,  finely 
united  by  cement.  The  reservoir  is  similarly  constructed,  and  will 
contain  thirty  persons.  The  water  was  supplied  from  one  of  their 
warm  springs. 

The  general  characteristics  of  the  Icelandic  tongue  are  copious 
ness,  energy  and  flexibility  to  an  extent  that  rivals  every  modern 
language  and  which  enables  it  to  enter  into  successful  competion 
with  the  Greek  and  Latin. 

Were  not  the  Icelanders  then  capable  of  recording  the  events 
incident  to  a  voyage  of  discovery  ? 

The  internal  evidences  found  in  these  documents  are  in  favor  of 
their  authenticity. 

Besides  there  are  in  existence  a  series  of  works  from  the  time 
when  these  voyages  purport  to  have  been  made,  down  to  the  pre- 
4 


20  A  LECTURE  ON    THK 

sent  time,  which  have  been  preserved,  and  which  make  mention  of 
these  discoveries. 

Distinguished  men  who  have  had  superior  opportunities  of  ascer 
taining  the  merits  of  this  question,  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  descendents  of  the^  Scandinavians  were  the  discoverers  of 
America,  prior  to  the  time  of  Columbus.  Among  these  are  Dr. 
Forster,  Mr.  Wheaton,  our  late  Minister  at  the  Court  of  Berlin, 
and  Baron  Von  Hurnboldt,  also  of  the  above  city. 

In  a  work  sent  from  Denmark  are  the  following  important  re 
marks:  "Alexander  Von  Humboldt,  who  of  all  modern  travelers 
has  thrown  the  greatest  light  on  the  physical  circumstances,  first 
discovery  and  earliest  history  of  America,  has  admitted  that  the 
Scandinavian  Northmen  were  the  true  original  discoverers  of  the 
New  World.  He  has  also  remarked,  that  the  information  which 
the  public  as  yet  possesses  of  that  remarkable  epoch  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  is  extremely  scanty ;  and  he  has  expressed  a  wish  that  the 
Northern  Literati  would  collect  and  publish  all  the  accounts  relating 
to  that  subject." 

The  Society  of  Northern  Antiquarians  has  complied  with  his  re 
quest,  in  publishing  the  great  work  I  before  mentioned. 

Besides  Adam  of  Bremen's  account  of  the  discovery  of  Ameri 
ca,  this  great  work  speaks  of  Bishop  Eric's  voyage  to  Vinland,  in 
1121.  Although  Thorfin's  men  were  driven  away  at  first  by  the 
natives,  yet  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose,  that  they  at  length  returned 
and  formed  colonies  in  this  quarter,  together  with  others  who  visit 
ed  America,  as  named  in  the  Icelandic  MSS. 

If  voyages  were  made,  from  time  to  time,  to  different  parts  of 
America,  by  the  Northmen,  is  it  not  reasonable  to  suppose  that  some 
parts  of  our  country  were  inhabited  by  them  for  a  long  time,  and 
that  Bishop  Eric  visited  Vinland  to  perform  Episcopal  duties,  and 
that  the  Northmen  left  evidences  of  their  arts,  in  the  antiquities  I 
will  briefly  name? 

How  fond  is  man  to  linger  around  mouldering  ruins — to  fix  the 
eye  on  the  mutilated  column  overgrown  with  ivy !  But  are  there 
not  antiquities  as  worthy  as  those  of  art  1  I  mean  those  of  our  own 
species. 

I  shall  make  a  remark  on  a  human  skeleton  I  saw,  not  long  since, 
at  Fall  River  in  the  vicinity  of  Narragansett  Bay. 

I  had  an  extensive  view  of  the  region  around  Mount  Hope,  lying 
on  the  west  of  Mount  Hope  Bay.  How  accurately  is  the  scenery 
portrayed  in  the  Icelandic  documents ! 

A  skeleton  was  dug  up,  a  few  years  since,  in  that  place.  It  had 
a  breast-plate  or  medal  hanging  clown  its  neck,  thirteen  inches  long, 
and  six  in  width  at  the  top,  and  five  at  the  bottom.  It  had  also  an 
ornament  of  fillet  work  around  its  body,  four  and  a  half  inches 
wide.  These  ornaments  are  made  of  brass,  or,  as  Dr.  Webb  says, 


DISCOVERY    OP    AMERICA.  27 

of  bronze.     A  knowledge  of  the  use  of  this  artificial  metal  implies 
a  considerable  advance  in  the  arts. 

I  witnessed  lately  an  object  of  interest  in  the  state  of  New  York. 

Not  long  since,  a  large  oak  tree,  cut  down  at  Lyons,  was  taken 
to  Newark;  and  on  sawing  it  there  were  found  near  the  centre  the 
marks  of  an  axe.  On  counting  the  concentric  circles,  it  was  dis 
covered  that  four  hundred  and  sixty  had  been  formed  since  the  cut 
ting  was  made.  It  is  well  known  that  a  circle  is  the  growth  of  a 
year.  But  the  most  striking  circumstance  is,  that  this  Targe  cavity, 
now  visible,  was  made  by  an  edged  tool.  The  rude  stone  axes  of 
the  present  race  of  Indians  could  never  have  made  clefts  so  smooth 
as  those  I  saw  in  the  block  at  the  hotel  of  Gen,  Barney,  at  Newark. 
I  have  a  report  of  a  Historical  Society  in  Ohio,  describing  a  similar 
cutting  made  with  a  metallic  axe,  about  three  hundred  and  fifty 
years  ago. 

On  further  examination,  I  presume  this  skeleton,  whose  head  is 
different  from  that  of  the  natives,  was  a  Northman;  and  that  the 
cuttings  in  this  tree  were  made  by  axes  wielded  by  the  descendants 
of  the  Northmen.  For  I  find  that  the  Icelandic  MSS,  speak  of 
breast-plates  worn  by  the  Northmen;  and  to  their  axes,  it  is  sta 
ted  that  the  natives  tried  them  on  wood",  and  afterwards  on  stone  ; 
but  the  instruments  used  by  the  former  to  cut  down  maple  trees, 
could  not  withstand  the  use  made  of  them  by  the  latter,  upon  stone. 
If  it  be  asked,  what  has  become  of  the  Northmen,  and  where  are 
their  descendants  1  we  answer  :  Like  the  mighty  master-builders  of 
the  splendid  cities  of  Central  America,  and  of  the  fortifications, 
mounds,  &c.,  of  the  United  States,  they  have  passed  into  oblivion. 
Nations  seem  to  vanish  in  a  day  : — like  the  300,000  inhabitants  of 
Moscow,  who  left  the  city  instantly  on  the  approach  of  the  mad 
Corsican. 

There  have  been  discovered  beyond  latitude  60°,  in  Greenland, 
upwards  of  500  people,  resembling  those  in  the  north  of  Europe, 
probably  descendants  of  the  Northmen. 


An  important  inquiry  arises  :  Was  Columbus  aware  of  the  dis 
covery  of  the  Northmen  1  From  a  letter  preserved  by  his  son,  it 
appears  he  visited  Iceland  in  1477.  It  is  thought  by  the  Danes  that 
he  there  obtained  a  knowledge  of  the  discovery  of  Vinland.  Allow 
ing  this  to  be  the  case,  it  is  singular  he  should  never  have  given  any 
intimation  of  such  knowledge. 

Instead  of  walking  through  Spain,  leading  his  son  by  the  hand, 
would  he  not  at  once  have  rushed  into  the  presence  of  the  sover 
eigns,  and  acquired  patronage,  wealth  and  honor,  by  telling  them 
that  the  obscure  Icelanders'had  discovered  the  region  he  wished  to 
unfold? 


28  A    LECTURE    ON    THE 

His  greatest  enemies  never  accused  him  of  having  reached  the 
New  World  by  information  received  from  Iceland. 

But  as  Columbus  was  rather  artful,  he  might,  from  particular 
motives,  have  concealed  this  knowledge  from  the  observation  of 
mankind. 

After  all,  let  not  the  circumstance  of  this  prior  discovery,  cause, 
in  our  view,  the  laurels  given  to  Columbus  to  wither  on  his  brow. 
Let  us  ever  honor  him  for  his  perseverance  and  his  virtues. 

Let  not  Lief  and  his  associate  Northmen  deprive  him  of  what 
the  voice  of  nations  has  awarded,  the  merit  of  having  given,  not  to 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella  only,  but  to  successive  generations,  a  New 
World. 

Iceland,  though  but  a  speck  on  the  bosom  of  the  Northern  Ocean 
is  not  unworthy  of  our  notice.  Though  dark  to  the  superficial 
observer,  yet  it  shines  with  a  lustre  brighter  than  the  flame  rising 
from  its  volcano.  It  is  the  light  of  knowledge.  That  obscure  island 
is  remarkable  for  the  attention  paid  to  learning.  Even  many  among 
the  common  class  pursue  the  higher  branches  of  study.  Their  long 
nights  are  enlivened  by  the  custom  of  every  member  of  the  family 
gathering  around  the  bright  lamp,  while  one  reads  for  the  amuse 
ment  and  instruction  of  all. 

The  sources  of  happiness  are  not,  like  those  of  mighty  rivers,  hid 
from  the  view  of  most  people.  They  are  accessible  to  all.  The 
Icelanders,  living  in  a  remote  island,  and  cut  off  from  the  privileges 
that  milder  climates  present,  are  naturally  led  to  look  for  happiness 
in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge. 

If  the  celebrated  Pliny  could  say  his  books  were  sovereign  con 
solers  of  sorrow,  cannot  the  Icelander  also  declare  that  when  moun 
tain  waves  lash  the  shores  he  can  find  pleasure  in  the  pursuit  of 
those  studies  that  mend  the  heart  and  enlighten  the  mind  ?  Ah,  yes! 
fondness  for  books  will  create  an  artificial  summer  in  the  depths  of 
the  most  gloomy  season. 

The  sunny  Italy  may  boast  of  the  beauteous  tints  that  flush  her 
skies;  but  after  all,  her  effeminate  inhabitants  may  be  destitute  of 
that  happiness  enjoyed  by  those  who  live  where  winter  reigns  un 
controlled  most  of  the  year. 

The  benevolence  of  Deity  is  seen  in  the  contentedness  felt  by 
those  who  live  in  the  higher  latitudes,  where,  as  a  writer  said  of 
countries  north  of  the  Alps,  Nature  seems  to  have  acted  the  part 
of  a  step-mother. 

What  a  contrast  between  the  condition  of  the  Icelanders  and 
that  of  their  forefathers !  They  were  the  worshippers  of  the  god 
Wodin.  And  what  were  his  attributes !  He  was  styled  the  Father 
of  Carnage !  His  greatest  favorites  were  such  as  destroyed  most 
of  their  fellow  creatures  in  the  field  of  battle. 

But  the  Prince  of  Peace  has  broken  the  sceptre  of  the  Father  of 
Carnage.  The  benign  influence  of  his  Gospel  is  seen  in  all  the  de- 


DISCOVERY    OF    AMERICA.         .  29 

partments  of  Government.  Observe  its  effects  as  seen  in  the  differ 
ence  between  the  feelings  of  Lodbrok,  a  Northman  King  and  Skald, 
and  those  evinced  by  Peace  Makers  in  Europe  and  America !  Those 
who,  when  storms  are  rising  in  the  political  horizon,  instead  of 
"  letting  slip  the  dogs  of  war,"  do  all  in  their  power  to  avert  the 
threatened  dangers.  Lodbroke  in  his  death-song  says:  "Eight 
Earls  graced  my  Dwina's  mouths.  The  crimson  sweat  of  death 
poured  on  the  sullen  sea."  Yes,  he  exults  in  seeing  his  laurels  dyed 
in  the  blood  of  his  fellow  creatures.  But  the  lovers  of  peace  gaze 
in  rapture  on  those  of  the  Great  Pacificators  of  both  continents 
while  verdant  under  a  pacific  sky. 

Who  would  not  award  to  such  heroes  rather  than  to  Augustus 
Caesar,  a  place  among  the  stars'?  (See  Georgica,  B.  I.  34.) 

Such  is  the  influence  of  Christianity,  where  the  Northmen  found 
those  who  heard  the  Great  Spirit  in  the  thunder. 

This,  as  Cicero  said  of  Rome,  is  the  glory  of  all  lands. 

"  Wisdom  and  knowledge  are  the  stability  of  our  times.  All 
classes  become  sensible  that  knowledge  is  the  guardian  of  property. 
In  every  place  they  eagerly  seek  after  that  wisdom  which,  as  Iso- 
crates  says,  is  the  only  imperishable  treasure.  Who  can  stay  the 
progress  of  knowledge]  You  might  as  well  think  of  " binding  the 
sweet  influences  of  Pleiades,  or  of  loosening  the  bands  of  Orion,"* 
as  to  attempt  to  oppose  the  march  of  mind.  To  swell  the  tide  of 
improvement,  it  is  pleasing  to  reflect  that  men  of  the  first  talents 
are  engaged ;  and  that,  through  the  medium  of  those  lectures, 
which,  if  they  are  not  the  fountains  of  knowledge,  are  important 
guides  to  them. 

A  word  in  praise  of  the  Scandinavians.  Like  the  patriarch,  they 
went  in  search  of  a  region,  they  knew  not  where.  We  praise  them 
for  their  courage,  we  applaud  them  for  their  zeal,  we  respect  them 
for  their  motives  ;  for  they  were  anxious  to  enlarge  the  boundaries 
fof  knowledge.  They  reached  the  wished-for  land, 

"Where  now  the  western  stm 
O'er  fields  and  floods,  o'er  every  living  soul, 
Diffuseth  glad  repose." 

The  Scandinavians  have  opened  to  view  a  broad  region,  where 
smiling  Hope  invites  successive  generations  from  the  Old  World. 

Such  men  as  a  Caesar  or  a  Tamerlane,  conquer  but  to  devastate 
countries.  Discoverers  add  new  regions  of  fertility  and  beauty  to 
those  already  known.  And  are  not  the  hardy  adventurers,  plough 
ing  the  briny  wave,  more  attractive  than  the  troops  of  Alexander 

*As  Pleiades  appear  in  Spring,  and  Orion,  in  Winter,  Patrick  gives  the  following 
.exposition  to  the  above  passage,  from  Job,  33  ch.,  31  v. 

"  Canst  thou  forbid  the  sweet  flowers  to  come  forth,  when  the  seven  stars  rise  in  the 
Spring,  or  open  the  earth  for  the  husbandman's  labor,  when  the  winter  season  at  the 
rising  of  Orion,  ties  up  his  hands." 


30  A    LIU  TIUF,    ON    THE    DISCOVERY    OF    AMKRK    \. 

marching  to  conquer  the  world,  with  plumes  waving  in  the  gentle 
breeze,  with  arms  glit  taring  in  the  sunbeams'?  Who  can  tell  the 
benefits  the  former  confer  on  mankind  1 

"To  count  them  all  demands  a  thousand  ton. 
A  throat  of  brass,  and  adamantine  lungs."  " 


APPENDIX. 


It  is  possible  that  the  plan  of  the  buildings  in  Central  America,  was 
derived  from  that  of  the  Towei  of  Babel, 

The  following  are  the  dimensions  of  one  the  large  buildings  in  Pa- 
lenque: — 

Base  310  by  260  feet— 40  feet  high.  Building  280  by  180  feet— 
25  feet  high.  The  piers  have  stuccos,  finely  painted.  The  paintings 
are  like  the  frescoes  in  Italy, 

The  paintings  Norman  saw,  were  of  light  green  and  sky  blue.  He 
speaks  also,  of  walls  15  feet  thick,  composed  of  good  stone  finely 
cemented. 

In  addition  to  the  valuable  essay,  I  heard  Mr.  Squier  read  in  New 
York,  I  lately  saw  the'  following  remarks  on  his  discoveries,  in  Ohio, 
from  the  New  York  Couirer. 

"His  specimens  surprised  the  [Ethnological]  Society,  as  they  furnish 
evidence  of  a  skill  and  taste  in  sculpture,  far  surpassing  anything  exhib 
ited  by  the  existing  Indian  tribes.  He  found  the  figures  of  about  100 
animals,  of  different  species  in  all  the  departments  of  Geology,  formed 
with  such  accuracy,  as  to  be  readily  distinguishable,  and  many  of  them 
shaped  with  almost  perfect  accuracy,  and  finished  in  detail,  as  if  by 
superior  workmen,  showing  a  liveliness  of  expression,  which  would  lead 
to  the  conclusion  that  they  were  the  portraits  of  birds,  beasts,  fish  and 
reptiles.'7 

Mr.  S.  is  inclined  to  think  the  people  who  left  these  remains  of  anti 
quity,  emigrated  to  Mexico. 

in  regard  to  the  Northmen 'discovery,  the  following  from  the  Dublin 
Evening  Post,  speaks  the  opinion  of  distinguished  Reviews  relative  to 
the  Danish  work. 

This  is  a  very  noble,  a  very  curious,  and  in  point  of  historical  interest, 
a  most  important  volume.  This  publication  has  put  the  matter  beyond  a 
doubt: 

I  saw  in  the  State  Library,  at  Albany,  the  History  of  New  York,  by 
Moulton  and  Yates,  in  which  it  is  fully  acknowledged. 


32  APPENDIX. 

In  the  Museum  of  Copenhagen  Denmark,  is  to  be  seen  a  large  piece, 
of  a  church  bell,  found  in  Gieenland.  It  was  among  the  antiquities, 
left  by  the  Northmen  who  lived  there  before  the  days  of  Columbus. 

The  following  is  from  the  beautiful  Ballad  of  Professor  Longfellow, 
on  the  •'  Skeleton  in  Armor,"  found  at  Fall  River: — 

Speak  1  speak !  thou  fearful  guest ! 
Who,  with  thy  hollow  breast, 
Still  in  rude  armor  drest ; 

Comest  to  daunt  me  ! 
Wrapped  not  in  Eastern  balms, 
But  with  thy  fleshless  palms 
Stretched  as  if  asking  alms  ; 

Why  dost  thou  daunt  me  ? 


, 


ffl 


RECOMMENDATIONS. 


•  i nl  him 
.llv. 

THOMAS  S,  JESri'. 


.s1  of  Columbian  ( 

•ove  given. 

Vv  M.  RUBLES, 

'LIN. 


Phila 

SlR —  i  this  city, 

•me. 

that 

ompiled  WJK  and  cannot  butb 

rvant, 
1DSON,  U.  S.  Consul  at  >S' 

'Mr.    :  :ive  Lecture  relating  to  the  his 

tory  of  our  country,  to  the  r.i  .  ietninarv. 

.'  the  Bosto,  r,   Oct.  16. 

The  i  .,  by  the   Rev.  A.   Davis,   on  "The 

i   Continent  by  the  Northmen/' and  on  "  Th 
.IT.     J  h;ul  the  pleasure   last 

ii  with  many  otir 
I  trust  that  Mr.  i 

it  labor  and  ::  upon  this  inlerestiiJL 

ho  attend  Mr.   I) 

ad,  by  the  instiv. 


.!>>h/i  Van  Iltin-n.  Esq. 
Mr.  Davis'  printed  Lecture 

iiliiient.     'J 


AMOS  DEA; 


